Hero cop Richard DeGaetano receives a fitting farewell
Former NYPD 'poster cop,' who survived '92 shooting, is remembered for his sharp sense of humor
July 23, 2006, By Jeff Harrell
Richard DeGaetano took the bullet that changed his life with him to his grave yesterday.
In a ceremonial farewell befitting a hero police officer, the body of the one-time poster cop, who survived a gunshot to the head in 1992 but succumbed to cancer last Tuesday, was escorted from Our Lady Queen of Peace R.C. Church in New Dorp to his final resting spot at Ocean View Cemetery, Oakwood.
Across from the church, officers in dress blue uniforms stood five-deep at attention in rows spanning nearly a block along New Dorp Lane while the Police Department's highest-ranking officials -- including Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who delivered the eulogy, and Staten Island Borough Commander Assistant Chief Albert Girimonte -- mingled quietly.
DeGaetano's casket, draped with the green-and-white striped NYPD flag, was led to the mass by a motorcycle unit followed by the somber muffled drums of marching bagpipers. Police helicopters performed a flyover salute.
Inside the church, filled to near-capacity with family, friends and DeGaetano's blue-clad colleagues, a framed poster, depicting DeGaetano on a street corner in the Police Department's "The Beat Cop Is Back" public-relations program, was placed in full view.
POPULAR POSTER
That poster was plastered on city buses, billboards and telephone booths during the 1990s. The poster boy from Brooklyn's 62nd Precinct was selected from among 26,000 officers to represent the department.
"Richie was many different things. He was a police officer, a poster boy, a husband, father, brother and a friend. He certainly was a hero," said the Rev. Robert Romano, NYPD's deputy chief chaplain. "Mostly," Father Romano said with a smile, "he touched us with his humor."
Romano recalled visiting the dying cop. After DeGaetano asked the priest if he would "say nice things about me" at the funeral, Father Romano replied, "You'll get the deluxe service." "What's the deluxe service?" DeGaetano asked. "It's free," the priest answered. "Then I want the anchovies," DeGaetano told the priest.
That sense of humor was evident when DeGaetano returned home from 40 days in the hospital after he was shot above the eye by a deranged tenant inside a Brooklyn apartment in January 1992. The bullet, which lodged in his brain and robbed DeGaetano of most of his eyesight, remains for eternity.
Kelly recalled being at Bellevue Hospital when the wounded officer was brought there after he was shot. "He kept repeating, 'Don't let the shooter get my gun and harm others,'" Kelly said, referring to the cop's unselfish concern as "the infinite strength of human duration."
But DeGaetano struck a funny bone when he got out of the hospital and was greeted at home by well-wishers, including former Borough President Guy Molinari. "Guy Molinari asked if there was anything he could do," Kelly recalled. "You can babysit," replied DeGaetano.
LEGENDARY HUMOR
"He used his humor as a natural way to make people feel more comfortable," Kelly said. "His humor was legendary."
The flag that draped his coffin was presented to DeGaetano's parents, Vincent and Eileen. His wife, Cathy, 18-year-old son, Richard, and 16-year-old daughter, Lisa, stood alongside other family members as Father Romano led the gathering in graveside prayer. A final salute by the police troop gave way to raindrops as friends filed by the casket, dropping flowers in a basket on the ground. "This is a celebration of life, not a time to mourn," Father Romano said. "Richie is home."
Jeff Harrell is a news reporter for the Advance. He may be reached at harrell@siadvance.com.
2006 Staten Island Advance
Retrieved July 22, 2006 from http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1153660655155230.xml&coll=1&thispage=2
July 23, 2006, By Jeff Harrell
Richard DeGaetano took the bullet that changed his life with him to his grave yesterday.
In a ceremonial farewell befitting a hero police officer, the body of the one-time poster cop, who survived a gunshot to the head in 1992 but succumbed to cancer last Tuesday, was escorted from Our Lady Queen of Peace R.C. Church in New Dorp to his final resting spot at Ocean View Cemetery, Oakwood.
Across from the church, officers in dress blue uniforms stood five-deep at attention in rows spanning nearly a block along New Dorp Lane while the Police Department's highest-ranking officials -- including Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who delivered the eulogy, and Staten Island Borough Commander Assistant Chief Albert Girimonte -- mingled quietly.
DeGaetano's casket, draped with the green-and-white striped NYPD flag, was led to the mass by a motorcycle unit followed by the somber muffled drums of marching bagpipers. Police helicopters performed a flyover salute.
Inside the church, filled to near-capacity with family, friends and DeGaetano's blue-clad colleagues, a framed poster, depicting DeGaetano on a street corner in the Police Department's "The Beat Cop Is Back" public-relations program, was placed in full view.
POPULAR POSTER
That poster was plastered on city buses, billboards and telephone booths during the 1990s. The poster boy from Brooklyn's 62nd Precinct was selected from among 26,000 officers to represent the department.
"Richie was many different things. He was a police officer, a poster boy, a husband, father, brother and a friend. He certainly was a hero," said the Rev. Robert Romano, NYPD's deputy chief chaplain. "Mostly," Father Romano said with a smile, "he touched us with his humor."
Romano recalled visiting the dying cop. After DeGaetano asked the priest if he would "say nice things about me" at the funeral, Father Romano replied, "You'll get the deluxe service." "What's the deluxe service?" DeGaetano asked. "It's free," the priest answered. "Then I want the anchovies," DeGaetano told the priest.
That sense of humor was evident when DeGaetano returned home from 40 days in the hospital after he was shot above the eye by a deranged tenant inside a Brooklyn apartment in January 1992. The bullet, which lodged in his brain and robbed DeGaetano of most of his eyesight, remains for eternity.
Kelly recalled being at Bellevue Hospital when the wounded officer was brought there after he was shot. "He kept repeating, 'Don't let the shooter get my gun and harm others,'" Kelly said, referring to the cop's unselfish concern as "the infinite strength of human duration."
But DeGaetano struck a funny bone when he got out of the hospital and was greeted at home by well-wishers, including former Borough President Guy Molinari. "Guy Molinari asked if there was anything he could do," Kelly recalled. "You can babysit," replied DeGaetano.
LEGENDARY HUMOR
"He used his humor as a natural way to make people feel more comfortable," Kelly said. "His humor was legendary."
The flag that draped his coffin was presented to DeGaetano's parents, Vincent and Eileen. His wife, Cathy, 18-year-old son, Richard, and 16-year-old daughter, Lisa, stood alongside other family members as Father Romano led the gathering in graveside prayer. A final salute by the police troop gave way to raindrops as friends filed by the casket, dropping flowers in a basket on the ground. "This is a celebration of life, not a time to mourn," Father Romano said. "Richie is home."
Jeff Harrell is a news reporter for the Advance. He may be reached at harrell@siadvance.com.
2006 Staten Island Advance
Retrieved July 22, 2006 from http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1153660655155230.xml&coll=1&thispage=2